7 May 2023
Liberation and Commemoration Ceremonies 2023
The International Liberation and Commemoration Ceremony at the Memorial Mauthausen and at sites of its former satellite camps were organized and conducted from 1946 by the camp survivors and their associations. As the successor organization of the Austrian Association of Mauthausen Survivors, Mauthausen Committee Austria has taken over this task and ogranized these celebrations in 2023 on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Mauthausen Concentration Camp.
The International Liberation Ceremony took place on May 7, 2023 at 11:00 am at the Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial.
Also this year the International Liberation Ceremony started with a memorial procession with unlimited number of participants. After the wreath-laying ceremony, the participants of the commemoration procession were invited to take part in the joint liberation ceremony at the former roll call square.
The international liberation ceremony was accompanied by the actresses Mercedes ECHERER and Konstanze BREITEBNER in several languages. The celebration was broadcast Austria-wide by ORF III and streamed internationally and multilingually on the online channels of the MKÖ.
MKÖ Chairman Willi MERNYI and CIM President Guy DOCKENDORF addressed the participants of the liberation ceremony.
- Opening speech by Willi Mernyi (DE) (PDF)
- Opening speech by Willi Mernyi (EN) (PDF)
- Speech by Guy Dockendorf (DE) (PDF)
- Speech by Guy Dockendorf (EN) (PDF)
- Speech by Guy Dockendorf (FR) (PDF)
- Closing speech by Willi Merny (DE) (PDF)
- Closing speech by Willi Mernyi (EN) (PDF)
Each year we dedicate the Commemoration and Liberation Ceremonies to a special theme. Relevance to the present is an essential component of each annual theme. This is intended to provide young people in particular with reference to their world of experience today through an examination of the Nazi era and ideology.
2023 the Commemoration and Liberation Ceremonies are dedicated to "Civil Courage".